Canadian Black History Month Roundup: Read Up!

As Black History Month wraps up, we at COCo thought we would make a little roundup of some of the great things we have seen being posted this past month about #CanadianBlackHistory—to encourage people to learn all year round! Before we jump in, though, a couple of remarks on #BlackHistoryMonth and why non-profits should care.

Read more.

We’re Recruiting for our Board of Directors!

Becoming a Board member at COCo means becoming a part of a community that is trying to build relationships and strength with organizations and movements for social change, and who understand that learning and growth is key to the health of the Quebec community sector.

Read more.

Fidget Toys: What They Are and Why Trainers Should Use Them

Here at COCo, we are often getting schooled by the people around us—and boy, are we grateful for it! Recently, we’ve been learning a lot about workshop accessibility from a resource guide produced by Accessibilize Montreal. They’re an amazing community group made up largely of dis/abled people fighting systemic discrimination.

One of those lessons was about fidget toys— that is, slinkies, koosh balls, bean bags, stress balls, and all those other silent, malleable toys you can find in the dollar store. The idea is this: there are a lot of us out there who learn better when there is movement or sensory input happening at the same time. Forget learning better: lots of people have trouble learning at all without this, often resorting to shuffling around, doodling, tapping their feet, etc. The solution is providing learners with fidget toys—things people can play with, squeeze and touch while they listen, without causing any distraction to the people around them.

Read more.

Community Mobilization Model: Language Minorities In Quebec

An interesting resource from the Community Health and Social Services Network about their approaches to community mobilization. Learning from 20 year of success in successfully building access to social services for language minorities in Quebec, CHSSN brings some tried and tested approaches to successfully mobilizing minority communities that could be applicable to a number of organizations.

Read more.